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The magical thing about drunken text messages was that they could make no sense at all and be utterly straightforward all at once. This was the first time Vanessa had ever received one, but that didn't matter. She'd understood.

Kam was drunk. He wanted something of her.

Finding out what that was had proved a far more harrowing task. But, after exchanging (and decoding) a series of messages that had her giggling softly under her breath, Vanessa managed to get to the bottom of things.

Kam had spent the evening drinking at the Lucky Star. He wanted her company.

Vanessa was not actually old enough to get into the bar. If Kam were thinking clearly, he might have remembered this. She'd hesitated for a heartbeat, contemplated telling him that it didn't make sense for her to come, and then rolled out of bed and pulled her shorts back on. It didn't matter that she wasn't of age. It didn't matter that it was well past midnight. If Kam needed her, she would go to him.

This was how Vanessa found herself waiting in line outside the Lucky Star, head bobbing in time to the music that pulsed through the speakers. She fired a text Kam's way informing him of her arrival, and managed to get beyond the doors on a stroke of good fortune.

The environment was new to her, but not wholly undesirable. Vanessa, it was true, thought it was a little bit exciting.

More than a little bit, even.

She smiled softly to herself, and started pushing her way through the crowd; eyes peeled for any sign of Kam and those dark dreadlocks.

Nobody had told Vanessa that making eye contact and smiling in a place like this meant more than hello. Her nature had always been friendly. She wasn't predisposed to either suspicion or caution, and was very easily swept into the gaze of a dashing older gentleman.

She noticed him looking on her way by, flashed him a little grin just to be polite, and then continued her hunt for Kam. It was very hot in the club, where an ocean of bodies bumped and moved and seemed almost to breathe as one being. Vanessa, who had not really changed out of her pyjamas, found herself grateful that she'd worn a tank top to bed.

"Hey, legssss," a sleazy voice whispered in her ear, "let me buy you a drink?"

Vanessa hadn't the faintest clue who he was speaking to. She squinted through the haze, and the elbows, and the butts, and then brightened at once when she found Kam.

"Hey," the voice said again. This time, fingers coiled around her wrist. "I'm talking to you."

"Huh?" Vanessa was distracted, eyes glued to the figure of the woman under Kam's hands. She was reminded, inexplicably, of Gehenna, and turned to the man behind her with an irritated snarl. "Let go of my arm."

It came out more angry than she'd meant it to. But she was feeling very jealous of Kam's brunette, and unwilling to admit it. The man's eyes widened, and he dropped Vanessa's hand at the same time Kam started calling out for her.

She frowned and hesitated, but only for a moment. And then, smiling, humoured her friend's enthusiasm by shouting back.

"Kaaaaaaaaam!"

In the time that it took for Kam to find her Vanessa had all but forgotten about the gentleman who'd tried to 'pick her up.' Another night, another time, she might have taken him up on his offer. Who didn't like free drinks? But this was different. She'd snuck her way into the bar at Kam's behest, and wasn't about to abandon him in his time of need to a stranger.

A sweet smile played along her lips when he, broad shoulders easily parting the crowd, drew near. If Kam's text messages hadn't already given him away, Vanessa would have realized he'd been drinking in a heartbeat. His voice was not loud in her ear, despite the way that he shouted, and a couple of those dark dreads tickled the soft skin of her cheek.

Dammit.

Vanessa had to fight to keep the butterflies at bay.

She inhaled softly when his hand found her shoulder, and braced herself to support his weight. These things, and the way he was leaning on her, confused Vanessa such that her forehead knotted together. She had to work to clear her expression but managed, in the end, to blink up at him with concern.

Thinking was never easy, when he stood so close.

"I came as soon as you told me where you were," the corners of Vanessa's lips twitched, and then his puppy eyes made her giggle. Harmlessly. "Oh my god, you're so drunk." And adorable.

Why was she here? What did he want?

As far as size went, Vanessa had never been that tiny. She was tall, and on the scrawny side of the weight spectrum, but still very healthy. Strong. Fierce. Feminine. She was a lady, and a warrior.

It didn't matter.

Kam was large enough, and heavy enough, that carrying him home was out of the question. Vanessa's knees did not tremble. Her spine did not bend. She stood faithfully, and was prepared to support him in anyway that he required. This was what friends were for.

But she hoped that he would, at least, be able to stumble along on their way back to his apartment.

"Of course," Vanessa breathed softly, and searched those sullen brown eyes with her bright golden ones. Any amusement she might have derived from his intoxication, and that small burp, was quelled at once by Kam's shocking vulnerability. Something was wrong.

Her heart fluttered, and then went out to him.

Vanessa lifted her hand to steady his arm where it was draped around her shoulders, took a tentative step forwards, and tugged him gently towards the exit. "Of course I'll walk you home, Kam."

She wanted to know what had upset him, but couldn't find the words to ask. So she frowned.

The first thing Vanessa noticed when she stepped with Kam out into the night was a drop in temperature. It was cool outside, without the heat of the bodies that had moved so tightly next to hers inside of the club. Kam was very close, and her skin was hot where it touched his. This contrasted so sharply with the night air that goosebumps peppered up and down Vanessa's arms. She suppressed a shiver, so insignificant it was almost indiscernible, and started on the long trek to Kam's apartment.

It was slow going. Vanessa, who was very aware of the danger that might be lurking around every corner, urged Kam along as patiently and as sweetly as she could manage. When she wasn't thinking about how very good he smelled, and the way he'd had his hands all over that girl in the club, Vanessa was trying to decide what she'd do if they were attacked.

Anonymity was important. But, if sacrificing her identity meant the difference between life and death for Kam, there really was only one thing that could be done.

Vulcan's henshin pen was safely in her pocket. Kam was so drunk that he might--

That tormented sigh tugged Vanessa out of her heroic reverie. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, concerned, and then had to fight a grimace at the mention of a girlfriend.

Oh.

It was difficult for Vanessa to picture Kam dating anyone. He had personally assured her that he… just didn't.

"She upset you?" Vanessa's voice was an encouraging murmur. While struck by pangs of jealousy and terrified now that Kam would confess to some undying love for this nameless girl, Vanessa couldn't very well ask him not to share.

Besides. She wanted to know.

'Sorta.'

Vanessa waited, ears ringing with the hazy nature of this non-answer, and fretted in the silence that stretched between them. In that space there was, somehow, enough time for Vanessa to conjure up an idea of this mysterious ex-girlfriend. She wondered about the things she must have said, and done, and liked. How had she looked?

Obviously, she'd been a special lady. Vanessa was sure that Kam, who'd backpacked through south america and put out fires with his clothes, would never have dated somebody boring.

She opened her mouth, hesitated over asking another question, and was about to speak when Kam interrupted her.

Vanessa listened, and glanced sideways at Kam when his weight on her shoulders lightened. But then it was back, with that strong hand on her shoulder, and she was comforted. This was not exactly new territory for Vanessa, who had vague memories of her father, brokenhearted and depressed after her mother's death, returning home from long nights at the bar.

It was her grandfather who'd taken care of them all, then. Vanessa had learned more than a thing or two from him.

So she listened to Kam, held him steady, and was surprised to learn that he'd cheated. Not even she, with her wide-eyed idolization, could excuse Kam's behaviour. It skewered her perception of him, but only a little. Not enough to make her care about, or want him, any less.

"You don't suck," Vanessa argued softly, emphatically. It broke her heart, to see him so out of sorts, and she wracked her brain for the words to make this better. They evaded her. She bit her lip, and started grasping at straws. "You're wonderful."

It was the truth, as she felt it.

This was a side of him Vanessa had never seen before.

The Kam she knew best was brave, and strong, and so confident it was almost infuriating. He was so wildly different from the man slumped against her side, cutting himself down, that Vanessa didn't really know what to think. She had never expected to see him this way-- and was struggling to accept the fact that he had cheated on his girlfriend.

His ex-girlfriend.

"It's not too far," Vanessa's voice was soft. She squeezed Kam's arm gently to reassure him, and led the rest of the way back to his building.

The trip was not short and Vanessa, paranoid of an attack, was more than a little bit exhausted. She'd tensed at every voice and every footstep, and exhaled with relief when, finally, they turned the last corner.

"We're here," she announced, and stopped just outside the door.

Ordinarily, whenever she visited, Vanessa rang up and waited for Kam to buzz her in.

But Kam was standing right beside her.

She knew that he had roommates, so she tried the intercom. And waited. There came no answer. Apparently, no one was home. Vanessa, feeling a little hopeless, turned to Kam with an almost apologetic expression on her face.

Her place was a reasonable distance away, and she did not want to drag him any farther than she had to.

"Do you have the keys--

Before she finished the question, Vanessa knew where she would find them. The realization made her blush. She could have waited for him to fish them out of his pocket, but it was late. He was drunk. And she was feeling a little impatient.

So, gently, Vanessa slipped her hand inside one of Kam's pockets and retrieved his keys.

Try as she might, Vanessa could not feign ignorance in the wake of Kam's meaningful gaze. Her cheeks blazed a soft pink-- one part embarrassed, two parts heat. She'd hoped he would be too drunk to pay much mind to her wandering hand.

The touch was innocent, but it didn't matter. She dropped the keys. They clattered to the floor.

"Oh," an awkward chuckle slipped passed Vanessa's lips. She stopped to pick them up, and wracked her brain for something clever to say while searching for the one that looked best suited to the lock.

It was not an easy task.

Kam had more keys than Vanessa suspected he knew what to do with. One of them, marked by a rubber cover, stood out from the rest. She tried it, and was relieved when it proved true. The door opened without argument.

Vanessa led the way inside, and shot a playful smirk back at Kam over her shoulder.

"You're awfully sure of yourself for a man who can barely stand," she teased, "I bet you wouldn't have known what to do with me, if I'd been after other things."

She waved her hand at him, to drive the message home. Those keys jingled importantly.